Our Guide to Basic Spriting

[CaptainHarrie]

One little techinique on paint I'd like to point out, by selecting the colour you want to change on left click, and then the colour you want it to be with right click, select the rubber and right click. Then it'll change only the colour you have selected on left click! (If I missed this being mentioned, I'll edit it out if you want )

[Kiwiwee]

Pardon the question, but how do you get a transparent background for the sprite?

I've always used iaza. You upload you image, select on the changes bar 'Transparent' and click the colour you want transparenized, then it shows you the transparentized picture, which you can clcik to get a zoomed-out view, the copy the link and paste it wherever you want!

 

Hope that's helpful n.n

[Dragonhatchling]

I've never done spriting before and I read this whole thread but I' still confused about everything.

 

I use Photoshop (tried downloading GIMP but it crashed each time I opened it) I'm on a mac and I don't know pretty much anything about shading.

 

I'm pretty comfortable with photoshop (have used it for many painting things and I draw there when I get bored)

 

I hope someone here can help me out some.

 

Also how big is the sprite supposed to be

Is it in pixels or something else?

Edited March 14, 2009 by Dragonhatchling

[Shay555031]

I am still very new to spriting(as in just starting lol) but for future reference what are some rules and guidelines to become a DC spriter? I am still very new to the forums and I am not sure if there is already a topic about it but its just a question

[Loviatar]

This was exactly what I was looking for, just too lazy to try Googleing it before now

 

Apparently I need to either get better at drawing by hand or gain more confidence in my drawings.... prolly both. I've taken to Photoshop pretty well so I'm sure other programs will be no problem once I put the time I have in on PS.

 

Thanks bunches!

[Phalo]

I've always used iaza. You upload you image, select on the changes bar 'Transparent' and click the colour you want transparenized, then it shows you the transparentized picture, which you can clcik to get a zoomed-out view, the copy the link and paste it wherever you want!

 

Hope that's helpful n.n

I use Iaza too, now.

 

I forgot this old thing was still up.

[NethaEmerald]

With this Knowledge, I may start making sprites. But now, IO just need to kinda improves my drawing skills.........

 

But if I'm making a Dragon egg, there an egg outline I can use so it doesn't come out all misshapen?

[Phalo]

All of the dragon eggs use the same basic shape template, yes.

[Alumentum]

I have a question about coloring your sprite. I have my outline scaned in and I brought it up in GIMP to color it but all the colors are grey or black. No matter what color I use it turns grey on the actually picture. How do I fix this?

[Shaddowwarrior]

I have a question about coloring your sprite. I have my outline scaned in and I brought it up in GIMP to color it but all the colors are grey or black. No matter what color I use it turns grey on the actually picture. How do I fix this?

Change the mode. ^^ Right now your picture is in 'Greyscale' mode, it needs to be in 'RGB' mode. It should be under Image>Mode or something.

[Alumentum]

Awesome thank you so much

[Demonic_miss]

Hi, I'm kinda noob-ish, and I'd like to try my hand at spriting, but when I resize my sketch, it comes out all blurry and I can barley tell what it once was. Any tips on how to avoid this?

[Shaddowwarrior]

Hi, I'm kinda noob-ish, and I'd like to try my hand at spriting, but when I resize my sketch, it comes out all blurry and I can barley tell what it once was. Any tips on how to avoid this?

Resizing it bigger always messes things up. If your sketch was super detailed and you resized it smaller, the details probably just got all squished together. Either way I would suggest making sure your sketch is very clean and simple before resizing, and adding in any possible details later.

 

Alumentum - No problem. ^^

[Demonic_miss]

Okay thanks so much ^^

[blazinrider112]

I was wondering- when you scan the original sketch, is it okay if you save it JPEG?

[Shaddowwarrior]

I was wondering- when you scan the original sketch, is it okay if you save it JPEG?

It's fine- .PNG is a bit higher quality and can handle transparency, but for a sketch .JPG is fine. You can always convert it after coloring/linearting, or if you need transparency.

 

If you have the option of scanning as .PNG, I would suggest it, but .JPG will do.

[Pooyakhani]

Guys which Programs is the best for Spriteing?

Just Paint or there r Some more Special Programs?

[Shaddowwarrior]

If you want free, get GIMP. It is a free downloadable program for painting or spriting, and has all or almost all of PhotoShop's features. I find the interface kind of confusing, but I'm sure if you worked with it for awhile it would be fine. ^^

 

PhotoShop has some nice features and such, so if your willing to pay, go for it. But it is really expensive.

 

If you can't download or buy, paint does alright for simple pixeling.

[Pinch of StarDust]

Making backgrounds transparent, I use LunaPic http://www.lunapic.com.

Go to Lunapic and upload.

Go to "Edit" and select "Transparent" all the way at the bottom.

Set the fuzz to 1, and click the color you chose.

Viola! A transparent background.

 

 

[DragonSpirit009]

Hey, I want to know more about the programs that are used...

I know there is MSpaint, Photoshop, GIMP and others named but I would like to know if CorelDraw can also work or CorelPaint?

I'm just curious... plus I'm new at this

[Spookyghost]

Hey, I want to know more about the programs that are used...

I know there is MSpaint, Photoshop, GIMP and others named but I would like to know if CorelDraw can also work or CorelPaint?

I'm just curious... plus I'm new at this

Any program which allows you to draw 1 pixel at a time will work, just some programs, such as those you mentioned, are better than others.

[RheaZen]

Don't know whether this has been brought up or not already (too lazy to read through), but Appleworks' Painting program actually works very well for sprites.

[monica3981]

Corel doesn't really work for this i'm afraid, I got it.

[Tiger_Rider]

How do you make a backround transparent on paint?

Edited May 15, 2010 by Tiger_Rider

[StormofNight]

You can't. But if you save it and then go onto iaza.com you can give it a transparent background.